Key-ring.



. Pate nu J. R. LOMAS n e uly 22,1902.

KEY RING.

(Applicatiun filed Mar. 24, 1902.)

. (llo IMIIBIJ' THE NoRRXs PETERS cu, Puoraumm WASHINGTON. 0.4.

UNITED STATES PATENT. Ornron.

JOHN R. LOMAS, OF WESTHAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

KEY-RING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent 0. 705,368, dated July 22, 1902.

7 Application filed March 24, 1902. Serial No. 99,760. (No model.)

.To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I,JOHN R. LOMAS, of West haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Key-Rings and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in

Figure 1, a viewin side elevation of a keyring constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2, an edge view thereof; Fig. 3, a view in side elevation with one of the plates removed, showing the hail of the ring as closed andlocked; Fig. 4,a corresponding View showing the bail in its unlocked position by full lines and in its open'position by broken lines; Fig. 5, a detached edge view of one of the modified forms which the sheet-metal housing may assume.

My invention relates to an improvement in key-rings, the object being to produce at a low cost for manufacture a simple, compact, and convenient key-ring constructed with particular reference to its provision with the name of the owner and identifying and advertising or other matter, if desired. 0

With these ends in view my invention consists in a key-ring having certain details of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims. p

In carrying out my invention as herein shown I employ two'oval sheet-metal housingplates 2 and 3, corresponding to each other in size and forming, as it were, a housing for the separated ends of the elastic wire bail constituting the ring proper. One end of the bail is flattened for the reception ofa pivot 5, on which it turns and which is passed through the inner ends of the plates 2 and 3 and headed down. The free end of the bailis alsoflattened and formed in its outer edge witha locking-notch 7, coacting with a locking-pin 8, passed through the outer ends of both of the said plates 2 and 3; or this pin might be replaced by a projection on one of the two plates.

For maintaining the notched free end of the bail 4 in engagement with the locking-pin I employ a lever 8, located between the two plates hung upon a pin 9 and formed with a heel 10, arranged to engage with the inner edge of the free end of the bail. When the lever is turned down into the position in which it is shown in Fig. 3, its heel 10 rides over the inner edge of the notched free end of the bail and forces the same outward, so as to engage the said end of the bail with the locking-pin. On the other hand, when the lever is thrown up into'its open position, as shown in Fig. 4, the notched end of the bail springs inward and disengages itself from the pin, after which the bail is free to be swung on its pivot 5 into its open position, in which it is shown by broken lines in Fig. 4. In this position of the bail the keys may be slipped over it or removed from it, as desired.

It will be clear that the outer faces of the plates aiford ample opportunity for the application to the ring of the owners name and address,or for a nu mber,or for any other identifying or advertising matter, all of which maybe stamped, engraved, etched, or otherwise applied to the plates. Instead of making the plates independently of each other they might be struck up from a single blank, as shown in Fig. 5, in which the plates 11 and 12, constituting the housing, are formed from a single piece of metal folded, as it were, at the bottom. I would therefore have it understood that I do not limit myself to the exact construction herein shown, but hold myself at liberty to make such departures therefrom as fairly fall within the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a key-ring, the combination with a hail, of a sheet-metal housing for the reception of the ends of the bail, one endof which is pivoted to the plates, anda manually-operable lever located within the said housing and coacting with the inner edge .of the free end of the bail for forcing the same into its locked position in which it engages with a fixed point within the housing.

2. In a key-ring, the combination with a bail, of two plates together constituting a other notched, a lever located within the housing and coacting with the free end of the bail, and a retaining or locking pin mounted in the said plates and engaged by the notched end of the bail when the same is sprung into position for such engagement by the said 1ever.

3. In a key-ring, the combination With a bail having its ends separated from each other, of a sheet-metal housing exposing two large plane surfaces for the application of advertising or other kindred matter, the said housing being adapted to receive the ends of the bail one end of which is pivoted to it;

JOHN R. LOMAS.

Witnesses:

GEORGE D. SEYMOUR, CLARA L. WEED. 

